UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
School of Management
MGA 202: Fundamentals of Accounting II
Spring 2007
Professor Weihong Xu / Office hours: Tuesday: 2:00pm – 3:30 pm; Thursday: 10:00am - 11:30am; or by appointment354 Jacobs Management Center / Phone: 645-5434
Email:
COURSE DESCRIPTION
MGA 202 is a continuation of MGA 201. In order to take MGA 202, you must have either earned a passing grade in MGA 201 or, if you are a transfer student, you must have received a course waiver for MGA 201. Both courses are designed to introduce you to the various dimensions of the field of accounting, including accounting systems, financial reporting for external use (to creditors, investors), management accounting for internal use (for managers within the company), taxation, and auditing. The courses also provide an overview of common business issues and an understanding of business practices that will help you to succeed in your junior and senior management courses. MGA 201 covered the basic operation and control of accounting systems and an introduction to both financial reporting and management accounting. MGA 202 is divided into two parts: in the first half of the semester we will cover management accounting topics, including product costing, budgeting, performance evaluation, and decision analysis. In the second half of the semester we will cover financial accounting topics, including debt and equity financing, investments, and statement of cash flows.
TEXTBOOK
The main textbook and study guide are continued from MGA 201, as follows:
Required:
Accounting Concepts and Applications, Ninth Edition, Albrecht, Stice, Stice & Swain; South-Western College Publishing (ISBN: 0-324-18756-4). The text is comprised of two parts—financial and managerial accounting.
Study Guide for above text, packaged with new text at no additional cost.
Financial Accounting, covering financial chapters 1-14 (ISBN: 0-324-20679-8); and Managerial Accounting, covering managerial chapters 15-24 (ISBN: 0-324-20682-8).
Also required:
Basic four-function calculator for exams—non-programmable
OTHER REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS
In addition to the textbook, the following materials are also required. All are available on the course web site:
· Study notes for each chapter
· PowerPoint slides for each chapter
· Additional materials announced and assigned during the semester.
IMPORTANT WEBSITES
Course website:
http://ublearns.buffalo.edu/. The website includes lecture slides, study notes, homework solutions, quiz solutions, exam information, exam solutions, and your grades. For access, use the links that appear on the left-hand side of the main webpage.
Textbook websites: http://www.swlearning.com/accounting/albrecht/accounting_9e/albrecht.html
This website provides access to freely available PowerPoint slide shows, Excel templates for homework problems and exercises check figures, interactive quizzes, other supplementary learning materials, and links to helpful sites. For access to supplementary chapter materials, use the “Student Resources” and “Interactive Study Center” links that appear on the left-hand side of the main webpage. The “Accounting” link at the bottom of the main webpage provides access to a website containing daily news articles.
http://albrechtxtra.swlearning.com/ This “Xtra!” website is accessible by password only. The website offers additional online learning tools for each chapter. Each new text purchased at the bookstore includes a separate card containing a password. Alternatively, you may purchase access to the website for $17.96 by going to the website and following the “purchase” link.
COURSE ADMINISTRATION
MGA 202 is conducted in a lecture/recitation format. Lectures, by Professor Weihong Xu, are on Mondays and Wednesdays (Section A: 9:00–9:50, Norton 112; Section B: 10:00 – 10:50, Knox 104). Recitation sections meet on Fridays at various times. By registering for a particular recitation section (section numbers A1-A8, B1-B6), you are automatically registered for the corresponding lecture. By registering for a particular section, you take responsibility for arranging your schedule so you can attend that section. If you attend a different recitation from the one you are registered for, you will not receive credit for your attendance or for quizzes given.
Recitation instructors for the course, along with their office and e-mail addresses, phone numbers and office hours are shown below.
OFFICE / E-MAIL / PHONE / OFFICE HOURSJennifer Lewinski
(A1, A2, A3, B3) / Jacobs 345 / / 645-6596 / Mon: 2:00pm-3:30pm
Wed: 2:00pm-3:30pm
Brian Organ
(A4, A5, B5, B6) / Jacobs 345 / / 645-6596 / Mon: 11:00am-12:30pm
Thurs: 2:00pm-3:30pm
Katherine Giansante
(A6, B1, B2, B4) / Jacobs 345 / / 645-6596 / Mon: 12:30pm-2pm
Thurs: 12:30pm-2pm
Cheol Lee
(A7) / Jacobs 361 / / 645-3283 / Thurs: 2:00pm- 3:30pm
Vincent Chen
(A8) / Jacobs 361 / / 645-3283 / Thurs: 3:30pm-5:00pm
Note—you can attend the office hours of any recitation instructor or Prof. Xu (see beginning of syllabus for Prof. Xu’s office hours). Problems in the course should first be brought to the attention of your recitation instructor. If they cannot be resolved at that level, you should contact Professor Xu.
GRADING
Your grade in this course will be determined as follows:
Three out of four best interim examinations / 450Comprehensive final examination / 240
Nine out of twelve best recitation quizzes / 135
Recitation performance / 35
Two practice sets / 140
Total / 1,000 /
Points
Your final grade will be determined in the following manner:
Total points of 900 (90%) - 1000 = A
Total points of 850 (85%) - 899 = A-
Total points of 800 (80%) - 849 = B+
Total points of 750 (75%) - 799 = B
Total points of 700 (70%) - 749 = B-
Total points of 650 (65%) - 699 = C+
Total points of 600 (60%) - 649 = C
Total points of 550 (55%) - 599 = D
Total points below 550 (55%) = F
In accordance with University policy, a grade of "Incomplete" (I) will be granted only if (1) a significant portion of the course requirements has been completed with a passing grade, and (2) a situation beyond the student's control (e.g. severe illness or family emergency) prevents timely completion of the course. If an Incomplete is granted, a written plan for completion must be agreed to. The remaining work must be completed during the following semester or before, and a non-UB course may not be substituted. Grades earned up to the point of the incomplete will be reflected in the computation of the eventual course grade. In other words, you will pick up where you left off; you do not get a fresh start. Dissatisfaction with your grade, carrying a heavy course load, or taking a job that prevents you from completing course requirements do not constitute grounds for an Incomplete. If your other responsibilities will prevent you from earning a satisfactory grade, please do not register for the course. It is your responsibility to monitor your performance in this class. If you are not satisfied with your grade, you are encouraged to resign from the course and try it again during a future semester.
INTERIM EXAMINATIONS
Four interim examinations will be given during the semester and during lecture. Please plan ahead so you are EARLY or ON TIME for the exams, bring pencils, large erasers, and a working calculator with you. A basic four-function calculator is required for exams. Graphing or other programmable calculators may not be used.
The best three of the four interim exams will count toward your overall course grade. If you are unable to attend one of the interim exams, for any reason, this exam will be the one you drop. In the extremely unlikely event that you are unable to attend more than one of the interim exams, arrangements may be made on a case by case basis, and only if you have a last minute, documented emergency (e.g. serious illness, family emergency). Please note that vacations you may have planned for days UB is in session do not qualify as emergencies.
FINAL EXAMINATION
The final exam will be comprehensive and will be given during the final exam period. Details on exact subject coverage will be made available later in the course.
PRACTICE SETS
You will complete two Excel spreadsheet practice sets:
Practice set #1 requires you to develop a series of linked spreadsheets which present production, materials, labor, overhead, selling & administrative, and cash budgets, based on the sales budget. This practice set is based on the material in Chapter 19, Operational Budgeting. Practice set #1 is due March 9.
Practice set #2 covers the basic accounting cycle for a corporation. This practice set strengthens your knowledge of the accounting cycle (recording transactions, posting to accounts, end of period adjustments, closing revenues and expenses, and preparing financial statements), and reinforces your understanding of how the financial statements are developed, as covered in MGA 201. It will also apply your knowledge of material on reporting inventory and plant & equipment (learned in MGA 201), and liability, and stockholders' equity accounting (learned in MGA 202), and how it fits in the accounting cycle. Practice set #2 is due on April 27 (the last recitation class).
Each practice set should take you between 4 and 8 hours to complete, depending on your level of competence with the accounting material and with Excel. Instructions for completing the practice sets will appear on the course web site. Due dates are not subject to negotiation; if you want to hand your practice sets in early, you are welcome to do so. There will be point penalties for late submissions. See the practice set instructions for details.
QUIZZES
A written quiz will be given at each of the scheduled recitation classes, for a total of 12 quizzes. The quizzes will be based upon the homework problems due that session and the exercises addressed in lecture, so if you prepare the exercises and problems for the chapters, you should do well on the quizzes. The January 19 recitation quiz will be a review of MGA201 basic concepts. Your worst three quizzes will be dropped in determining your quiz grade. There will be NO makeups for the quizzes. If you must miss a recitation class, no matter what the reason, the quiz given that day will be one of the three you drop. If you have work-related or extracurricular activities that will cause you to miss more than three of your recitation classes, you should not take this class this semester. If you are a UB athlete who will be on the road on several Fridays this semester, or have other University-sponsored activities that affect your recitation attendance, please email Prof. Xu directly at the start of the semester.
LECTURE ATTENDANCE
In a large class such as this, some students think it is OK to cut the lecture classes. For this class, if you want to do well, nonattendance is a big mistake. Most students find it nearly impossible to learn accounting on their own, and end up thinking the course is "too hard." Lecture time is devoted to simplifying difficult concepts and providing illustrations and applications, which will hopefully bring the topics to life.
RECITATION PERFORMANCE
Your recitation instructor will determine your grade for recitation participation. Your grade will be based on your preparation of assigned homework problems and participation in recitation discussions. Homework problems will be collected from time-to-time, at the option of your recitation instructor. You are expected to actively participate in recitation discussions. If you merely arrive to take the quiz and leave, you will receive a grade of zero for recitation performance. Remember that you must attend the recitation for which you are registered.
INTERNET SUPPORT FOR THIS COURSE
Important course materials will be posted on the course website (address is at the top of the course outline). Examples of materials to be posted include syllabus, lecture slides, study notes, homework solutions, and exam solutions.
E-mail will also be a means of communication for this course. Communications from Professor Xu and your recitation instructor will be sent regarding changes in schedule and room assignments for exams, etc. You are responsible for the information provided in these messages, so a requirement of this course is that you check your email frequently (at least once a day, every day). We will use your UB email address only. Listservs will be established by the University shortly after the commencement of the semester using your University e-mail address. Personal e-mail addresses cannot be added to the listservs. If you prefer to use your personal address, access the CIT website and set up a “forward” from your UB address to your personal address.
HOW SHOULD YOU PREPARE FOR EACH CLASS?
Topics and assignments for each lecture and recitation meeting are listed later in this document.
Lecture preparation:
· Read the assigned chapter.
· Download lecture slides.
· Download and read the related chapter study notes. These notes provide additional comments or examples prepared for the chapter. They are not a substitute for the text or for your own notes that you take in class. They do not cover every topic in the chapter, just certain selected topics.
Lecture time will be devoted to explanations, extensions, and applications of this material, based on the assumption that you have already reviewed the material prior to the class. You will be able to take more complete class notes and follow the lecture if you have already downloaded the slides and study notes and have them in front of you.
Recitation preparation:
· Review the text chapter and lecture notes
· Prepare the assigned problems
· Bring your textbook and completed problems with you to recitation
Most of the class time will be devoted to analyzing problems assigned from the text. During the recitation class, important points in the material will be emphasized and exercises and problems reviewed. You will have ample opportunity to ask questions and you are encouraged to do so. Part of each recitation session will be devoted to a quiz based on the assigned problems.
HOW TO SUCCEED IN MGA 202
This course is fast-paced and covers a wide variety of material. It is not rocket science, but unless you have exceptional intellectual capacity, you will not be able to absorb it by last-minute cramming for exams with little work otherwise. You will also find the course to be overwhelmingly difficult if you do not actively attend the lectures and recitation classes each week. "Actively attend" means that you follow the discussion and take careful notes. You are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner during both lecture and recitation, and respect the rights of the instructor and those around you. If you do not intend to do this, please do not come to class. In the lectures and recitation classes, you will receive specific guidance in identifying the important issues. Not everything in the text chapters will be covered. You need to come to class to identify and learn what is important. In addition, illustrations of topics will be provided, which will clarify the material for you. Many students fail this course, and for the vast majority, the reason is not that the course is too difficult for them to understand; they simply do not take the actions necessary to be successful. It is your responsibility to organize your schedule so you are able to spend the time needed to do well. In addition, you need to spend your time efficiently, concentrating on the important material and not agonizing over things that do not matter. If you have trouble understanding the material, go to any office hours that fit your schedule, or email your recitation instructor or Professor Xu. Do not wait until the day before the exam; go for help as soon as you realize you are not understanding the material.